Coronavirus

Organizacion Latino-Americana of Eastern Long Island has been chosen as the New York State Project HOPE provider for the East End and now has two crisis counselor teams able to offer assistance in English, Spanish, and Portuguese.

Two days after being released from Stony Brook Southampton Hospital, where he had spent nine days fighting Covid-19, Village Mayor Jerry Larsen discussed the status of proposals for paid parking and the construction of a wastewater treatment plant, the recent increase in fees for beach parking and several other permits, the tensions that have arisen at village board meetings, and more.

In many ways, there are few things in medicine as dangerous as the passage of time. By this, I mean that inexorable movement toward a place where the status quo holds reign. Patients who come in to discuss their concerns about a recent 5 or 10-pound weight gain over a month or two will often be fired up with the desire to make positive changes in their lives.

As East End residents face an ongoing lack of access to the Covid-19 vaccine, Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr. and other local officials vented their frustration this week with Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo's handling of the state's vaccination program, and offered recommendations for fixing it.

Data released Monday by New York State shows the seven-day average rate of positive Covid-19 cases in Suffolk County has been ticking downward now for nearly a month. The rate reflects the number of cases that are positive as a percentage of the total tests administered.

There are a number of questions as to why local doctors' offices haven't yet been able to vaccinate people 65 and older, when health care providers expect to be able to do so, and what has been taking so long.

Jeff Nichols, the Sag Harbor School District superintendent, reported Thursday that there is actually evidence of school-related transmission in these two cases — an unusual finding given that that has not been the case in most other school districts on the South Fork.

For East End residents hoping to book an appointment online for a vaccination at Stony Brook University, the nearest state-run site, the message has been a consistent: "No appointments available." On the websites of urgent care facilities in Riverhead and Huntington run by Northwell Health, which is overseeing vaccine administration on Long Island, the message is even less encouraging.

Following the big new this week that "high-risk" sports, namely boys and girls basketball, wrestling, and competitive cheerleading, could begin a foreshortened season on Monday, South Fork school districts grappled with whether that was in their students' best interests.

High-risk high school sports including wrestling, basketball, and competitive cheerleading can resume again in Suffolk, County Executive Steve Bellone announced Monday. The season will run from Feb. 1 through Feb. 27.

On two Wednesdays in Feburary, the school will offer tests to students and staff who have indicated their willingness. Like many schools, Springs has been plagued by Covid-related disruptions and staff and student quarantines.

East Hampton High's winter sports seasons were still on hold as of this week, the second week in a row that the school's students were learning remotely. "It hurts — they were just getting into a routine, and then were cut off."

East Hampton High School and Middle School will return to their usual hybrid learning plan starting Monday, but the John M. Marshall Elementary School will continue with remote learning through at least Friday, Jan. 29.

Recently, a new source of uncertainty has arisen in the form of a variant in the novel coronavirus that has spread quickly. There are many concerns about what this means for the next stages of the pandemic, especially as we stand on the brink of the largest mass vaccination effort in memory.

With a lack of Covid-19 vaccines making it nearly impossible for many of those deemed eligible to receive their first shot, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo sought to wrangle control of the state's vaccine supply away from the federal government, and streamline the distribution process this week.

Health Rover, a health care company that makes house calls to people in need of Covid-19 tests and provides same-day results, is seeking to take the hassle out of the testing process.

Rabbi Joshua Franklin of the Jewish Center of the Hamptons in East Hampton will host Beatty Cohan, a psychotherapist and the radio host of "The Ask Beatty Show," today at 5 p.m. for a virtual conversation about nurturing emotional well-being during the pandemic.

The governor appealed to Pfizer amid ongoing frustration with the Trump administration, complaining on Monday that the federal government dramatically increased vaccine eligibility last week while distributing fewer doses to the state.

The East Hampton Village Ambulance Association, in a virtual presentation last week, honored a number of its members who not only coped with Covid but went beyond.

Since I started in my office on Shelter Island, I have had seven patients die. Having never started an essentially new primary care practice location before, I have no idea how that number compares. I just know that, in the context of a year full of more suffering and death among those for whom I am privileged to care for, those seven names stand out.  

The months since the pandemic began have seen "almost a 100 percent increase in the student population of the Amagansett School," according to Seth Turner, superintendent of the Amagansett School District.

New York State has opened Covid-19 vaccinations this week to anyone 65 or older and the immunocompromised, members of police and fire departments, health workers at outpatient facilities including private medical and dental practices, teachers and school staff, child care workers, transit workers, and grocery store workers who interact with the public.

As school staff, including nurses, therapists, and teachers, lined up to be vaccinated this week, school districts continued to grapple with plans to conduct Covid-19 testing all while trying to not let the virus upend children’s education.

Dr. Gail Schonfeld of East End Pediatrics has been approved by New York State to administer the Covid-19 vaccine but does not yet have it on hand and urged people to hold off calling her office, because the volume of inquiries is overwhelming her office staff.

East Hampton High's bowling team was to have had a match under its belt, and the boys swimming team was to have made its debut (though with no spectators) today at the Y.M.C.A. East Hampton RECenter, but the coronavirus pandemic put the kibosh on that.

The East Hampton School District will restrict classes to remote-only at the John M. Marshall Elementary School starting Friday, and will extend this week’s virtual instruction at the middle and high schools through next week.

The Sag Harbor School District on Monday unveiled a preliminary plan to begin administering Covid-19 tests to its students and staff members within the next two weeks.

The list of New Yorkers eligible to receive the Covid-19 vaccine was expanded this week to include those 65 and older, the immunocompromised, members of police and fire departments, health workers at outpatient facilities including private medical and dental practices, teachers and school staff, child-care workers, and grocery store workers who interact with the public.

With East Hampton High School reporting 13 active Covid-19 cases this week and the middle school reporting another nine among staff and students, the two schools will switch to fully remote classes next week, the district announced Friday afternoon.

Emergency medical service personnel on the South Fork reported this week that 911 call volume was down in 2020 as a whole but up in the usually quiet months of November and December. "People are, I think, afraid to go in the ambulance to the hospital, so things we normally see, we're not seeing people calling for," said Deborah O'Brien, president of the Sag Harbor Volunteer Ambulance Corps.